It’s good for business

How to get the most out of your food hygiene rating

Your food hygiene rating can become an integral part of promotional activity for your business. Display of the rating sticker is mandatory in Wales, so why not start to include it in your marketing activity for your business as well.

Here are some tips that can help you make the most of your rating.

At your restaurant, café or takeaway Food businesses in Wales will have to display the rating sticker sent to them under the provision of the Food Hygiene Rating (Wales) Act. This sticker carries the Welsh Government logo. It must be displayed at or near the entrance to your business in a place where your customers can easily see it.

Other promotional ideas

Menu Menus are a great place to advertise your food hygiene rating. So, whether your menu is on the table, in the window, on a board outside or online you can display your rating. To help, we have some images showing your rating that you can download and use.

Website Your website is also a good place to promote your hygiene rating. To help you get started we have a web banner that you can download, or you can embed your rating on your website using the FSA ‘widget.’ Information about this can be found in your business’s entry on food.gov.uk/ratings

Flyers On your next promotional flyer include a short quote that promotes your well-earned food hygiene rating, for example:

“(Name of business) has achieved (insert your rating) in the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme.”

You could also add a more personal comment if you wished, particularly if you’ve been rated a ‘5’ and are proud of your achievement.

And remember to include an image of your hygiene rating and the rating website food.gov.uk/ratings.

Newspaper Advertisement Next time you place an advertisement in your local paper, include a short quote like the one above as well as an image of your rating. It’s a simple way of letting regular and potential new customers know that your business has attained very good standards in food hygiene.

Email If you have a database of customers email addresses include your hygiene rating as part of your signature whenever you send an email or newsletter. It’s a subtle way to raise awareness of your rating.

For FHRS images, logos and web banners mentioned in this leaflet visit: food.gov.uk/business-toolkit-fhrs “I’m the only fish and chip shop in my area with a rating of 5 and I’m very proud of that. The food hygiene rating has led to my sales being increased. So it is definitely good for business.” Mathew Williams, fish and chip shop owner

Social Media Have you considered using social media? In a recent survey 47% of restaurant owners questioned, said that social media was the most important part of their 2012 marketing campaign. With more and more customers using social media you could make the most of the opportunity and use it to promote your rating.

Facebook With over 900 million users Facebook is a great place for restaurants, cafes and takeaways to promote business. Simply create a page and you can connect with your customers in a number of ways, such as:

- Asking questions and seeking input on new dishes and menu items
- Offering promotions and even the ability to order food through your Facebook page

Upload a photo of your hygiene rating sticker in your window and invite your customers to celebrate with you. You can also use it to generate more business by incorporating a promotion, for example:

Twitter With more than 490 million Twitter accounts registered and at least 170 million tweets being sent each day, Twitter provides a number of fantastic ways to interact with your customers, such as:

Tweeting delicious or interesting photos of your food with captions can be a good way to get retweeted

- You could also run a simple competition via Twitter simply upload a photo of your rating sticker and offer a free meal to the first 5 people to retweet it.

Instagram This social photo sharing site has more than 40 million users sharing 58 photos every second and lets you connect with customers on a more visual level, for example:

- Uploading photographs of daily specials
- Your staff with the rating sticker
- Posting photographs of your most mouth-watering dishes
- Sharing photographs of special in-store promotions and events

Why not start by showing off your signature dish on Instagram with a caption that mentions your hygiene rating.

\*To build a database of customer’s email addresses you could hold a competition. For example, get them to place their business cards in a bowl and hold a weekly draw to win a meal for two.

\*\*http://nrn.com/social-media/7-social-media-tools-restaurants